Tag Archives: tambora history

Sumbawa Island with its volcano, Mt Tambora, offers adventurous trekking, wonderful natural forests, archeological sites, fantastic beaches, arts and crafts and interesting Dutch colonial heritage. Unfortunately Sumbawa is ignored by most tourists who usually proceed straight to Eastern Indonesia. If you chose to tour the entire island of Sumbawa we recommend a visit to the Komodo Islands, one of Indonesia? famous national parks featuring the Komodo Dragon, a large monitor. Tambora Trekking can be arranged in the appropriate season for the fit and healthy.

You need to fly to Bima from Bali or Lombok and stay in Bima before the services on your own cost ( Airport transfer, hotel and meals in Bima is excluded )

Itinerary:

Day 01: Bima-Pancasila-Post 3
After breakfast at 06.00 Am, we drive to Pancasila village, gate of Mount Tambora Trekking which takes 5-6 hours, when you are in Pancasila, The route leads through the coffee plantations before you get on the trail of the National Park, you trek through rainforest of Tambora and overnight at post 3. (LD)

Day 2: Post 3-4-5
After breakfast, leave post 2 and trek to post 3 and 4, Both Pos have fresh water from the nearby river, Overnight at post 5 before summitting. (BLD)

Day 3: Post 5-Summit-Back to Pancasila and Bima.
You get up around 2am and have a small night snack before your hike to the summit starts. After 2 hours hiking during the darkness you reach the crater rim at 2’630 m, where you can enjoy the superb sunrise over the crater of Mount Tambora. After the peak you return back to Pos 3 where you get lunch, before you start your way down to the Pancasila where you car is waiting and take you to Bima and arrive in Midnight. (BLD).

Day 4: Bima-Airport or Next Destination
After breakfast, free and easy and then we take you to Bima Airport or to Sape if you continue your journey to Komodo island.

Sumbawa Island with its volcano, Mt Tambora, offers adventurous trekking, wonderful natural forests, archeological sites, fantastic beaches, arts and crafts and interesting Dutch colonial heritage. Unfortunately Sumbawa is ignored by most tourists who usually proceed straight to Eastern Indonesia. If you chose to tour the entire island of Sumbawa we recommend a visit to the Komodo Islands, one of Indonesia? famous national parks featuring the Komodo Dragon, a large monitor. Tambora Trekking can be arranged in the appropriate season for the fit and healthy.

You need to take early flight if you are fling from Denpasar or Lombok and take a taxi from the airport to Pancasila which cost you around Rp. 800.000/car/one way and overnight on your own in Pancasila the night before the services.

Itinerary:Day 01: Pancasila-Post 2
The route leads through the coffee plantations before you get on the trail of the National Park, you trek through rainforest of Tambora and overnight at post 2, Post 3, Post 4 and Post 5. Overnights. (LD)

Day 1: Post 5-Summit-Pancasila
leave post 5 around 3 Am to reach the summit. Enjoy the view of Mount Tambora, afterward, trek back to to Post 2 and overnight (BLD)

Day 2: Post 2- to Pancasila and Bima.
After breakfast and 3 hours hiking you will reach down to the Pancasila where you can get the car for your way back to Bima on your own cost ( B )

This trek to Mount Tambora is via Lombok, from Lombok we drive you to Sumbawa Besar town and arrive around 11.00 Pm and next day you continue your driving to the village of Pancasila, Its the gate of Mount Tambora and you trek will end in Bima and fly next day to Bali or other destination.

Mount Tambora has been in record for the biggest bang in the world history, its bigger then Mount Krakatau between Sumatra and West Java, Its buried 3 kingdoms in Sumbawa island.

Day 01: Arrival in Lombok island – Sumbawa Island – Hotel ( D )
Pick up from the airport and transfer to Sumbawa Besar which takes 2 hours to East Lombok harbor, 1.5 hours by ferry and 2 hours to Sumbawa Besar from West Sumbawa harbor. overnight and meeting service.

Day 02: Sumbawa Besar – Pancasila-Tambora ( BLD )
Early morning depart to East Lombok after breakfast to catch ferry to Poto Tano of Sumbawa, Drive through Sumbawa island while lunch provide in Local restaurant in Sumbawa Besar. Enjoy the drive on Sumbawa while stop a few places for photos of nice views, beaches and villages. Arrive in Pancasila in late afternoon, trek to Mount Tambora Reserve and camp at the jungle gate.

Day 03: Mount Tambora Trek Post I, II, III ( BLD )
Full day trek in the beautiful rainforest of Mount Tambora Nature Reserve. This beautiful jungle is one of the best rainforest in East of Indonesia, overnight at Post IV

Day 04: Post IV – Summit of Mount Tambora ( BLD )
At 03.00 Am in the morning, accompany by your trekking guide, walk up to Summit of Mount Tambora ( 2.801 M ) and enjoy the spectacular Sunrise over Mount Sangyang in the east of Sumbawa Island and the greatest caldera of Mount Tambora. Return to your your camp and breakfast. After breakfast, walk down to Pancasila and arrive in late afternoon and drive to Bima and overnight at Marina Hotel. ( BLD )

Mount Tambora which is administratively located in the Regency Bima, Sumbawa West Nusa Tenggara province with an altitude of only 2851 mdpl (meters above sea level) is one of the objectives of mountain climbers, local climbers either Indonesia or abroad

Mount Tambora charm lies in the uniqueness of local nature and conditions of the mountain, crater known as the Mount Tambora volcano in Indonesia’s largest. The width of the crater of Mount Tambora seven kilometers, 16 miles around the crater, and the depth of the crater from the top to the bottom depth of 800 meter crater.

various historical records and experts say this big crater is the result of the eruption of Tambora, which is the Largest Volcanic Eruption in History. where the height of this mountain before reaching 4000, which means nearly half of the mountain was lost due to the eruption.

Besides the beauty of Mount Tambora is another vast desert along the overgrown crater lip Edelweiss flower dwarf about 0.5 meters to 1.5 meters with respective distance apart about two feet to 100 feet. Also the beauty of the layered rocks and in such flat-topped tables make a magnificent natural phenomenon. There is also a layer of rock along the cliff crater layers and a very impressive at the top of this mountain, with views of craters, seas, islands Satonda, vast desert is beautiful. Mount Tambora was one of the beautiful mountain in Indonesia, of course with the amazing natural phenomenon.

Mount Tambora is geographically located between: 8o – 25’LS and 118o – 00 ‘E with an altitude of between 0-2851 mdpl, the mountain is the highest mountain on the island of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara Province. Mount Tambora area is divided into two locations namely conservation: North Tambora Wildlife Reserve with an area of 80,000 hectares and South Tambora Hunting Park with an area of 30,000 hectares.

A big Volcano that erupted in the 19th century
The paroxysmal eruption of Mt. Tambora on the island of Sumbawa in April 1815 – despite having triggered a world wide historic event – is astonishingly neglected in studies of volcanic activity. The world wide event referred to was the so-called “Year without a Summer” – the exceptionally cold months of 1816. In addition to this, Mt. Tambora’s eruption far-eclipsed in violence and ejecta the more famous eruption of Krakatau (Krakatoa) in 1883, which also had an impact on the world’s weather.

Though disappointing, the reason for part of this neglect is not hard to find. There exist few contemporary records of the eruption and what there is has seen little reprinting in modern works. Nonetheless, enough data is now available that a more definitive study can and should be undertaken. The intent of this posting is to synthesize and integrate what is available and hopefully inspire further investigation.

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, later founder of Singapore, was at the time of the eruption serving as Lt. Governor of Java, based at his capital in Batavia. He had occupied this post since September 1911, a month after the British had wrested Batavia from control of Napoleon’s France. Having heard of the great human distress and disastrous phenomena accompanying the outbreak, he gave orders that British residents gather information and report if possible to him on the effects of the eruption On April 18, Lt. Owen Phillips was dispatched with a shipload of rice for relief to the disaster zone. It is from Phillips’ findings, and Raffles subsequent submission of his report to the Natural Historical Society of Batavia in September 1815 that we learn after-the-fact of the details of the eruption. It is important to note that no native accounts save one are known to survive, and the character and form of the eruption must be reconstructed “retroactively” working backwards from the Raffles report and the physical aftermath on the islands. With this challenge in mind, we proceed.

The eruption
Even allowing for the scant documention, the characteristic about the eruption that immediately jumps out at the researcher is its terrifying speed and brevity. When this is contrasted with its stupendous scale and effects, the event becomes a singularly sobering and daunting one. Perhaps only the Mt. Tarawera eruption of 1886 in New Zealand compares in modern times for sheer suddenness and destructive force of eruption. A word of explanation is in order here. Though such celebrated eruptions as Krakatau, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Pelee, and more recently El Chichon and Pinatubo, capture the public eye and respect, all of those powerful eruptions had fairly lengthy eruptive sequences. In short, for those with mind to do so, there was ample time if not always means to vacate the danger zone. With Tarawera it was different—in 1886 in the space of one night a triple peak mountain range near Lake Rotomahana suddenly split open and erupted. Literally some 4,000 people who had gone to their beds that evening would never again wake up. Such a disastrous and only slightly less deadly suddenness accompanied the Tambora eruption.

The Setting
Almost nothing is reliably known about the form and history of Mt. Tambora prior to the 1815 eruption. (Some indication of the lack of exploration of the region is gained by noting that the famous Komodo Dragons on the adjacent island of Komodos were only discovered in 1911!). However, mountains being what they are, the remnants tell a great deal to the expert eye. Although the top of the mountain collapsed in 1815, what still stands is unusual and provocative in its features. According to the best available evidence, before the eruption Mt. Tambora was a volcanic cone 4,000 meters high and 60 kilometers in diameter at sea level; densely blanketed in forest. It is reported to have originally had two summits, and there were several parasitic cones on the east and northeast slopes. What is unusual is that studies indicate that in its first phase of activity Tambora was a shield volcano, not unlike those of Iceland or Hawaii. Later, a bedded cone was built up on top of this, possibly the result of a change in the composition of the magma. The mountain, which may well have begun life as an island separate from Sumbawa, in time rose to dominate a peninsula joining it to Sumbawa on the southwest flank. By the time the Europeans came to occupy Sumbawa in the 18th century Mt. Tambora had lapsed into a deep dormancy. This state of affairs continued for a decade more into the 19th century. Then the volcanic energies once again burst forth.

At the time of the Tambora eruption, some 140,000 natives were reported to be living on Sumbawa. Sumbawa is long vaguely rectangular island running nearly from west to east. About a third the way from the eastern end, on the north side, a large peninsula projects northwestward like the trigger of a gun. But this trigger belonged to a cannon capable of force like no general of the age could ever have imagined. For it is on this penninsula, the Sanggar Peninsula, that Mt. Tambora stands. Scattered around in 1815 some 12, 000 people lived in a handful of villages and towns clustered on the peninsula of Tambora. Forty miles to the eastward, a small British contingent headed by a Resident resided at the village port of Bima, the capital of the European colonists. Bima was located beside Bima Bay, a deep indentation in the northern side of the east end of Sumbawa, and about 40 miles east of Tambora’s peninsula.

Though some mild spewings of ash were alleged to have occurred at the summit in the spring of 1814, the first real and almost only warnings were a rolling succession of deep shocks through the Dutch East Indies on the evening of April 5. In Dutch Macassar the warship Benares of the East India Company lay at anchor, the officers and crew perturbed by what seemed to be a naval battle taking place just over the horizon to the south. As dusk neared, the barrage seemed closer, with heavy artillery seemingly sprinkled with intermitent rifle volleys; just then a detachment of troops arrived aboard, and the Benares was ordered to put to sea to investigate. But they found nothing nor the source of the “cannonade”, although they remained at sea for three days. In the words of a modern author, “that was just as well. For if they had, there was nothing they, nor all the troops and ships in the world, could have done about it.” Indeed, for their quarry was no pirate over the horizon: but more than 200 miles south, and what was fast becoming the most explosive eruption of recorded history.

With sunrise on April 6 light ashes began falling on Batavia. The sun became obscured in the skies over Java, “having the appearance of being enveloped in a fog. The weather was sultry and the atmosphere close, and still the sun seemed shorn of its rays, and the general stillness and pressure of the atmosphere seemed to forebode an earthquake. This lasted several days.” Oddly enough, the rumblings and explosions – though they continued – now seemed to come less frequently and with less noise. The Europeans were perplexed and concerned, but some of the Java natives, however, were delighted: priests declared with confidence and satisfaction that the thunder and dark was the sign that the gods of the mountains were coming forth to free the island from foreign rule. However as the ash fall grew and persisted, while the rumblings and explosions continued, all those in-the-know now realized it must be a volcanic outbreak, and the speculation was that Merapi, Kelut, or Bromo was the likely culprit. With the cause if not the source of the disturbance identified, the Europeans at least became less concerned and ceased to pay much attention to it, for this volcanic outbreak was not yet “considered of greater importance than those which have occasionally burst forth in Java”.

This educated complacency abruptly shattered on April 10. As if rebuking their hubris, as the afternoon came, suddenly the roar and detonations like blasting gravel and cannon renwed, even stronger than before, and this time a truly menacing and darkened cloud of ash billowed over from the east. This time it was even greater than before, so that the sun was almost blotted out. In the eastern part of Java, the situation was even more severe. At Solo and Rembang some reported small and continuous earthquakes, and the explosions were tremendous, booming frequently through the 11th with such violence as to shake the houses noticeably. And still the might of the detonations only increased, and the . Once again the priests sang with joy that liberation was at hand, and even some of the Europeans now felt fear and concern. What was happening? None of the suspected volcanoes were known to be in eruption, and yet almost 2,500 miles of island chain was being rocked by cataclysmic quakes. Not a few must have contemplated the fate of Pompeii and Herculaneum—buried by Vesuvius in AD. 79 – but there was little anyone could do but wait. These were the conditions on Java and neighboring islands as dusk approached on April 10. But for those living on the peninsula upon which Tambora stood, matters would grow much worse this night. For in the late afternoon of the 10th Mt. Tambora in fact entered paroxysmal eruption and would inflict a devastation that would leave precious few survivors to tell the tale.

Fortunately, despite the primitive conditions prevailing on the island, via Lt. Phillips, we do indeed possess one eyewitness account from the Rajah of Sangir. Sangir was on the north shore of Sumbawa, just to the east of Tambora’s peninsula, less than twenty-five miles from the summit. The Rajah was in his village at the time of the eruption, he told Phillips, and in fact witnessed its climatic acceleration and effect. As such, his report is incredibly valuable. Moreover, allowing for the inexperience and comprehension of the witness, the Rajah of Sangir’s words show – to the volcanologist – a remarkable and likely trustworthy immediacy and clarity. He stated that “about 7pm on the 10th of April, three distinct columns of flame burst forth near the top of Tomboro mountain (all of them apparently within the verge of the crater), and after ascending to a very great height, their tops united in the air in a troubled and confused manner.” The words “troubled and confused manner” are a singularly vivid and accurate description of the volcanic ash clouds that boil upward from paroxysmal eruptions. He next says “In a short time, the whole mountain next to Sangir appeared like a body of liquid fire, extending itself in every direction. The fire and columns of flame continued to rage with unabated fury, until the darkness caused by the quantity of falling matter obscured it at about 8pm.” Hence, within an hour of the primary outbreak, the falling ash has obscured the summit from view. This too is consistent with such eruptions, and vouches for its reliability. The “liquid fire” is almost certainly pyroclastic surges rather than true lava flows, but this point cannot be proven.

As the Rajah and his people watched in consternation, “stones” (volcanic bombs and lapilli) began to fall on Sangir, “some of them as large as two fists, but generally not larger than walnuts”. Between 9 and 10pm ashes began to fall, and “and soon after a violent whirlwind ensued which blew down nearly every house in the village of Sangir, carrying the ataps, or roofs, and light parts away with it. In the part of Sangir adjoining [facing] Tomboro its effects were much more violent, tearing up the roots of the largest trees and carrying them into the air, together with men, horses, cattle, and whatever else came within its influence. The sea rose nearly twelve feet higher than it had ever been known to do before, and completely spoiled the the only small spots of rice land at Sangir, sweeping away houses and everything within its reach. The whirlwind lasted about an hour. No explosions were heard till the whirlwind had ceased, at about 11pm.”

Whatever atmospheric phenomena caused the absence of explosion sounds during the whirlwind, it ended with it. Starting about an hour before midnight, stupendously loud explosions were heard, “from midnight to the evening of the 11th, they continued without intermission”! Given the conditions prevailing in Sangir, the plight of the villages actually on Tambora’s flanks and the peninsula could only be imagined. In fact, they were scenes out of the end of the world, with “great tracts of land being covered by lava, several streams of which”, issuing from the summit of the disintegrating mountain “reached the sea.” In several places, whole portions of land suddenly subsided, and were swallowed by the inrushing sea.
The blanket of ashes was so heavy that they collapsed the roofs of the Resident’s and many other dwellings in Bima and rendered them uninhabitable. The Dompu Palace at Dora Bata was also buried with ash. At Bima the thickness of ash was later found to be one and a half feet deep, but at Sangir much nearer to the volcano it was three feet deep. “Although the wind at Bima was queerly still during the whole time, the sea rolled in upon the shore, and filled the lower parts of the houses with water a foot deep. Every boat was forced from the anchorage and driven on shore.” All around Sumbawa the neighboring islands reported similar odd pheonmena, as “the sea rose suddenly to the height of from two to twelve feet, a great wave rushing upon the estuaries, and then suddenly subsiding.” On the adjacent island of Bali, the ash lay a foot deep as well.

Throughout the night of the 10th and through the day of the 11th the mountain raged with an incredible fury and violence. As if sending a warning to the growing confidence and pride of western man, Mt. Tambora roared with an unbridled and unmatched defiance that rocked the entire East Indies. An eruption column of ash and dust boiled an incredible 28 miles into the sky, as lightning danced with the fury of dervishes amidst it.

The enigmatic detonations began again on the afternoon of April 11, and this time houses and buildings in Macassar began to actually shake. The warship Benares put to sea, heading southward to investigate. However, by noon on the 12th the sky had become almost opaque and almost filled with fine ash. Daylight was scarcely visible, as a stygian darkness descended. Native village shamans proudly and confidently declared that the old gods had burst forth and were about to drive the Europeans from Indonesia. As it happened, nothing of the sort occurred, and after three days the skies gradually brightened again. The thundering ceased abruptly.

Finally the eruption’s fury began to wane late on the 11th, the sharp and loud detonations moderating and “heard only at intervals”. But on the 12th far to the west of Sumbawa, floating pumice still formed a mass two feet thick and miles in extent! So thick was it that ships had difficulty breaking through the drifting mass.
In Java, the “haziness and heat of the atmosphere, and occasional fall of volcanic ashes, continued until the 14th, and in some parts of the island until the 17th of April”. However, the Javanese were lucky: heavy and timely falls of rain ensued, helping to wash away the ash and clear the sky so that severe injury to crops and outbreaks of epidemic were avoided. Alas for the Sumbawans, there would be no such reprieve.. At last, on July 15, 1815, the last explosions ceased. The skies cleared, and revealed was a Dantesque panorama of destruction and ruin.
On Mt. Tambora, the once irregular and lofty summit had been lopped off, as if with a knife, forming a flat-topped massif capped by a stupendous caldera. Given the low-order of eruptions since 1815, modern figures are probably very close to those of 1815, with little change to the mountain since: The eruption had formed a caldera 6 kilometers in diameter and 1,110 meters deep. The highest point was (and is now) 2,850 meters above sea level.

The loss of life and destruction was appalling. Of the thriving village-towns in the province of Tomboro near the mountain, comprising some 12,000 inhabitants, only small Tempo and its forty inhabitants remained. All the others had been obliterated by whirlwinds or engulfed as frightening subsidences of land occurred. No trace remained of the villages of Tomboro and Pekate, and “no vestige of a house” was left. During the eruption, the town of Tomboro on the west side of Sumbawa had been “overflowed by the sea, which encroached upon the shore so that water remained permanently 18 feet deep in places where there was land before.” Only five or six from both towns were known to have even survived. Of the others only twenty-six badly burned people of a party out from Pekate managed to paddle their canoes away from the peninsula and survive. The devastation was concentrated on the north and west sides of the peninsula of the mountain, the “trees and herbage of every description, along the whole of the north and west sides…” had been “completely destroyed, with the exception of a high point of land near the spot where the village of Tomboro once stood.” Out at sea, there was huge mass of floating trees littering the surface of the water for miles around the peninsula.

Nor were conditions much better in the eastern part of the island around Bima. Famine of extraordinary and severe intensity broke out, taking the lives of thousands. Having arrived on Sumbawa and writing from Bima about August 3, Lt. Phillips reported: “The extreme misery to which the inhabitants have been reduced is shocking to behold. There were still on the road side the remains of several corpses, and the marks of where many others had been interred; the villages almost entirely deserted and the houses fallen down, the surviving inhabitants having dispersed in search of food.” The famine was so severe in Sangir, Phillips reported, that even one of the Rajah of Sangir’s [the learned eyewitness who described the eruption above] own daughters had died from hunger. Phillips gave the man three coyangs of rice, for which he was most thankful, but such help paled before the disaster engulfing the Dutch East Indies.

The nature of the eruption
From the foregoing it is immediately seen that the Tambora eruption is exceptional for its ferocity and rapid acceleration to full climax. Despite the over-use of the example by popular literature, in this case it is indeed useful to compare it to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The outbreaks share notable similarities: [1] a fairly short-term series of pre-monitory quakes, [ 2] a heavily wooded and long dormant volcano that like Vesuvius, seems to have a hybrid basaltic and andesitic charcter—possibly having like Vesuvius risen originally from under shallow waters and joined to the island by peninsula. [3] a paroxysmal “clearing of the vent” eruption cloud that sent a large cauliflower skyward, [4] a rapid descent of darkness from a falling ash cloud, [5] the appearance of localized, possibly identical “base surges” fanning out from the disintegrating cone, [6] and an accleration through paroxysmal eruption and climax in the space of less than 72 hours, followed by a rapid tapering off of activity.

It is just possible that Tambora triggered a partial collapse of itself early in the eruption, unleashing an eruption plume of sudden and horrific force, not unlike Mt. St. Helens in 1980. The reason for suggesting this is in the sheer power and velocity of the eruption column, as well as its fairly short duration. It appears to point to a fairly sudden, preciptous rather than a steadily mounting release. But this is merely informed speculation, and though interesting, is impossible to verify at present.

No later than April 5, but possibly earlier, Tambora was shaken by a “throat-clearing” eruption that punched a new vent in the summit and cast forth a volley of ash over the Flores Sea. Though the eyewitness accounts describe only the climatic phase of the eruption and not the preliminaries, it seems impossible to assume that the Sumbawans were unaware that Tambora was now active. Possibly being experienced with neighboring Bali andLombok’s eruptions, they did not think it too serious at first. Or possibly evacuating was not a particularly practical option for most. In any case, most inhabitants of Tambora’s peninsula remained where they were as the eruption grumbled on into April 6. By sunset of the next day, the activity apparently faded, nearly to a halt, though the rumblings continued. Perhaps this lulled any doubts the people may have had. The eruption appeared to be waning, and few sought to flee the mountain’s fertile environs. Whatever circumstances prompted this choice, it sealed the fate of 90% of the inhabitants.

Climate
According to Schmidt-Ferguson, the nature preserve has D climate type.with rainfall 877-1500 mm per year, maximum temperature on daylight 28°c-34°c and minimum from 22°c-24°c at night.

How to reach the crater
There are some choice to reach the crater or caldera of Mount Tambora:

– Start the trip using airplane from Mataram to Bima (35 minutes), continued from Bima by car to Doropeti on south side of Tambora to the location of Volcano observation (5 hours).

– by car from Mataram to Kayangan Port and cross to Alas with Ferry until Pototano Port. Then continue to Doropeti (15 hours).

To reach the lips of caldera, the climbing activities can be done from many side, such as:

– From west, Calabai village and Pancasila village until west Caldera, this is general way, it needs 2-3 days.

– From North, Kawind nae village untill north Caldera, it is shorter and fast from the forest but it is climb from the beginning until the top of the mountain.

– From the noth-west, Doropeti vellage to the east untill west caldera and north west calseera. It is pass the woods where there are “jelatang” or “maladi” , the plant which hurt our skin when it touched.

– From south, Doropeti, 12 km to east. It will pass the road to the north and climbing from PT. BA palantation until south caldera, with one day trip. This way is passing the dry savanna. But if we use car we can reach until 1200 mdpl in 3 hours, then continued on foot in 3-4 hours. (Heryadi & Iqbal, Mount Fire,West Nusa Tenggara)

When to go
Tambora can be climbed all-year, however the best time for trekking is during the dry season, i.e. June to October. November brings fresh rain to the rainforest and the trail starts to be slippery, with regular heavy afternoon showers. From what we heard December can be already very wet and January to March are the toughest months to visit. In April and May trail conditions gradually improve.

To reach Tambora you need to get to the village of Pancasila. It is problematic if you want to do this in one day from Sumbawa Besar. If you want to try, take the Sumbawa Besar/Dompu bus very early in the morning and tell the driver you want to go to Calabai/Pancasila Mau mendaki Tambora (I want to climb Tambora). He will drop you after four to five hours at the tee-intersection from where the road to the right goes to Dompu (about 20 km away) and the road to the left takes you to Calabai. There are regular buses to Calabai but the road is very bad and the 110 km trip takes 4-5 hours. From Calabai you have to take an ojek (back of a motorcycle) to Pancasila.

It may be wiser and less taxing to go to Dompu, have a good night’s rest and make the journey to Calabai/Pancasila the next day. In that way you will arrive in Pancasila reasonably rested. Buy supplies for the climb in Calabai. There are plenty of shops selling noodles, biscuits, fruit, bottled water etc.)If you are riding a motorbike/scooter be warned: the road is really smashed and you must pay it the respect it’s due. Allow six hours for the 130 km Dompu – Pancasila.

Besides the trail from Pancasila, there are two routes starting from the village of Doro Peti (close to Dompu). One is right above the village and is through very thick jungle. It was so overgrown in May 2014 that taking this route was virtually impossible. The other route goes back a bit on the main road until the savannah starts and then climbs up a very bad jeep track. It is possible to hire transportation in Doro Peti and drive to the last camp (pos 3) from where it is only 2 hours to the rim (not the highest point). From here you need to go down the same way. There is no water source on this route.

It is possible to climb Tambora but be warned – it is not a stroll in the park. You have to be physically very fit and be ready for some discomfort and danger. Very few Indonesians, and far fewer foreigners, ever make it to this out of the way place. Since 2004 when records began to be kept by K-PATA – Kelompok Pencinta Alam Tambora (The Tambora Nature Lovers Group), only about 50 people per year have made the trip. For example in the first six months of 2009 only three groups climbed the mountain -a group of nine Indonesians, a Frenchman and one Australian.

At Pancasila you will be directed to K-Pata’s headquarters. The manager is Saiful and his wife is Irma. They will give you a room to stay, feed you well and organise guides. A fair price for food and lodging is Rp 100,000 per night and the guides require Rp 200,000 per day. This is a very reasonable fee considering the amount of work they are required to do on the trip, the nature of the terrain and the length of the walk. If you are not Indonesian, be warned, he may well try to add several other imaginary charges and ask for double or more for the legitimate fees. The coffee plantation up the road also offer guides and accommodation.

The walk is through virgin jungle. It is incredibly thick in parts and a lot of parang work is required. You will walk for hours along an almost indecipherable trail. At the end of the 2012 climbing season the path was clear all the way up to the summit and work was being done to build shelters at each of the 6 ‘pos’ or stations on the route. For experienced, well-equipped hikers unguided trips would be possible (though great care is required around the crumbling caldera and be aware that help is a long way off).

When it rains, it really rains. Expect to be soaked to the skin if you don’t have really good gear. But then again it’s not cold and what gets wet, dries eventually. Leeches are ever present, as are stinging nettles. There is a lot of fallen timber to climb over, under and along. The tree line ends quite abruptly and from then on the walking becomes easier. Dawn at the summit is a very special experience. The experience of gazing down into the crater and taking in its immensity will stay with you forever.